Mr. Offshore looking ahead 

Henning G. Kruse sold his favourite child, Esbjerg Oilfield Services, some months ago, but he is not planning to part with his fascination: the world of oil and gas.

Nobody can escape age, but Henning Kruse would not like to be called “retired” after having sold his favourite company, Esbjerg Oilfield Services, some months ago.

The 66 years old mate from the merchant marine who went ashore and in 1972 became the Base Manager for Danish Underground Consortium (DUC) has been a personification of the offshore industry of Esbjerg, but he is ready to admit that selling his company was a bit of a relief.

Running an offshore company with several hundred employees means cutting down staff between the major projects, and fear of having to lay off good men has often given Henning Kruse sleepless nights. EOS has been spared excessive ups and downs, and the company has invested in the future by maintaining a competent staff.

Before signing the papers on September 1st 2006 handing over to Semco Maritime A/S EOS and its yard at Staget 1 in Esbjerg Harbour and its -seve-ral hundred employees handling maintenance contracts in the Danish sector of the North Sea, he had been through deep contemplation.

“I had to go through a major process before I was able to pass the ball. EOS has meant incredibly much to me, and it is difficult for an entrepreneur to hand over the work of his life. But when the decision was taken, I had no second thoughts. By selling EOS to Semco Maritime a mastodon had been born meeting the requirements I originally had envisaged.”

The right buyer
The process was facilitated by the fact that Semco Maritime was a long-time cooperation partner having the resour-ces lacking in EOS: a well-developed EDP-system and a larger staff of engineers. Consequently, the much talked--of synergy effect was present, and the EOS-staff in their red boiler suits were not left alone in the new company.

Selling EOS does not seem to have angered the members of the old EOS staff. Before Christmas 17-18 members of the former staff turned up at Henning Kruse’s private home in order to wish him a happy Christmas. That warmed his heart.

Partner in offshore companies
Prior to this interview Henning Kruse had written down his thoughts of the future on a piece of paper. He is retiring, and his 591 m² house is no retirement cottage but a domicile for his holding company and thereby his continued activity in a number of offshore-related companies.

“I am keeping an eye on the companies I am involved in. I am a partner in ESE-Holding A/S jointly with Ole Andersen and Kent Kirk. We own 25% of Esvagt, and we have always been talking a lot together as they – like I – have realised the importance of securing local involvement in the oil and gas activities.”

He sees the stand-by vessel company, Esvagt, as a proof that by solid and professional work men from Western Jutland have been able to establish an internationally respected shipping company showing growth and success not only in Denmark but in Norway and the UK, too.

Fascinated by oil
In the 70es, when Henning Kruse was been the local DUC Base Manager with a staff consisting of a rather limited number of employees he saw the need for Danish companies able to provide service to the operators in the North Sea as the nearest places for getting such service were the German oil town, Celle, Aberdeen and Great Yarmouth.

“I told this to a lot of people, but none of them reacted, so in 1979 I and Søren Hygum set up Dogis providing pipe inspection, handling of pipes, selling drill bits and running agencies.”

Some years earlier when he was a mate in the shipping company, Maersk, he had become fascinated by the world of oil and gas and its international vibration and entrepreneurial spirit. Here anything could succeed. His faith in those words was tested in 1980 when the large hook-up of the Gorm-field in the North Sea was to start-up. On April 10th that year he established Esbjerg Oilfield Services, and the Gorm-project became his absolute main activity.

The dream came true
His contract with Fred. Olsen UK Limited called for providing 192 men and 192,000 man/hours for a period of six to seven months. He hired a workforce to work from April to the autumn, but as several of the modules for the project could not be shipped out as they did not meet specifications he had to set up workshop facilities in Esbjerg and extend the contract to 441,000 man/hours and a workforce of almost 700 men.

The Klondyke mood of the town came in handy as he to a large extent was contacted by people knowing nothing about the offshore industry, but wanting to take part in the hunt for the black gold in the North Sea.

“It was an extremely exciting period, and most mornings when I awoke I said to myself: “I am dreaming! It cannot be true that my firm has grown so much!” I felt as if I was sitting in a canoe heading for a waterfall. But when I arrived at our humble headquarters in the wooden shed in the harbour, it turned out to be true.

In 1983-84 when contracted for the hook-up of the Tyra gas-field the workforce hit almost 1,000 men, and 1.8 million man/hours were provided in less than a year.

The right time
Since then EOS as the largest shipyard and offshore company in Esbjerg has built Star platforms and offshore constructions as well as ships, and even if there has been ups and downs the company during its some 26 years of existence has had a constant workforce of several hundred men.

“I sold EOS at a time when we all know that a lot of work is lying in wait, and there is a lack of manpower, so I think the conditions were good.”

Through the years he has been active in increasing the most important resource of EOS – the qualifications of its staff – and to develop and document the quality of their work. That is why it is only logical that his holding company owns Dan-Tech A/S, which was separa-ted from the Quality Department of EOS as a specialized company authorized for approving equipment like pressure -vessels.

Stress and perfection
66 years old Henning Kruse has realized that his stress level is lower, and his perfectionism has not decreased through the years – on the contrary. That is why it suits him better to stay strategically retired in the background than to handle the daily operations and be responsible for the daily life of -several hundred families.

“As a matter of fact I have never been able to do, myself, what my company has been providing. I have often wished that I could weld or make calculations like an engineer. Instead I brought with me some genes. I think I am a reasonably good salesman, and from my time in DUC I have a wide network. I know a lot of people at Maersk, Gulf, Shell, Texaco and not least Chevron. That was an advantage as the oil and gas industry was rather small when I started.”

He is not able to hide his annoyance of the unimaginative and negative persons telling that the offshore industry will soon be dead. They are busy preparing for the funeral and the decommissioning of several hundred faithful platforms in the North Sea. He would rather see these people looking at the perspectives of increasing maintenance and possibilities for producing more oil and gas by developing better methods of exploitation.

“You deserve it, boss!”
Henning Kruse does not intend to leave the ship in the near future, and he is open to new ideas whether in oil and gas or other sectors, and whether they may come from his partners in the family company, his children Lars and Marianne, or others. But he wants more time for taking walks in the wonderful nature of Western Jutland, improving his handicap in golf and reading more books in his magnificent domicile with its fabulous view through its panorama windows. That he can enjoy his surroundings with a good conscience was proved by the reaction of some of his men when he in the late 90es showed them the drawings of his house.

“If you should not own such a house, boss, who else should?”

The Kruse family
Henning G. Kruse, 66, has the children Lars, 27, trained as cand. merc. at Åthus Business Academy, and Marianne, 25, studying at the Business Academy in Copenhagen. Lars was a Management Secretary in Esbjerg Oilfield Services for 18 months and fully supported and took an active part in the sale. He is now working in the engineering department at Semco Maritime A/S.

Both children are partners in Henning G. Kruse Holding A/S and sitting on the board of several of his fully or partly owned companies. Lately Lars Kruse became a member of the board of Westcoast Offshore Base when the shipping company DFDS was bought out. They are members of the boards, too, of Esbjerg Offshore Base which is owned fifty/fifty with IAT in Esbjerg.

The sale of EOS – for an unknown sum – took place a few months after Henning Kruse and the other owners of Denerco Oil A/S sold that company to Norwegian Altinex. The sale is said to have bagged the Kruse family some 100 million DKK.